Specter, Visiting Allen High, Says He May Sue Over `Jfk'

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter is considering suing the makers of the film "JFK," he said yesterday after a program at Allen High School.

"I think they went after me intentionally," he told a group of reporters following a question-and-answer session with students. "I can't answer why."

Specter said he is considering legal action for damage to his reputation. In 1964, Specter was an investigator for the Warren Commission, which was formed to investigate the shooting of President John F. Kennedy.

In the movie, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, played by Kevin Costner, refers to Specter as "an ambitious junior counselor" who helped develop "one of the grossest lies ever foisted on the American people."

The "lie" was the "single-bullet theory," which says that one bullet fired by Lee Harvey Oswald hit Kennedy and then struck Texas Gov. John Connally. The single-bullet theory is important to the Warren Commission conclusion that Oswald acted alone.

But Oliver Stone, who directed the movie, weaves a tale suggesting a giant conspiracy involving the CIA and FBI in Kennedy's murder on Nov. 22, 1963.

"It's a pack of lies," said Specter.

Asked if he was considering a libel lawsuit, Specter responded, "I'm thinking about it."

However, for a lawsuit to be successful, he said, his reputation would have to have been damaged by the movie. "And I don't know that anybody believes the movie," said Specter, a former prosecutor.

Specter also said legal action is "very time-consuming" and may not be compatible with his full-time duties as a senator or practical in this, an election year for him.

Specter stepped around questions about whether the attention on him and the film were hurting his re-election chances, saying that he's been answering questions about the Warren Commission and the single-bullet theory "over the last 20 years or so."

He also dismissed the film, saying that another "big movie" would catch the attention of the public soon. But he then added that "JFK" portrays an "important historical event" in a way that is "grossly untrue."

A publicist for Warner Bros., which produced the movie, had no comment.

Stone faced a similar controversy with his 1989 film, "Born on the Fourth of July." The story of Ron Kovic, a wounded Vietnam veteran who became an anti-war activist, showed Syracuse, N.Y., police clubbing college protesters in 1970. After complaints from the city that police never used violence to stop protests, Stone apologized for the inaccurate depiction, admitting he "took creative license."

Earlier in yesterday's program, Specter showed a touch of humor when a student asked him the first question about the movie. "Which movie was that?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

Specter said "JFK" is "totally false" on several points, including Stone's assertion that the shot to the back of Kennedy's head blew out a large piece of his skull. Specter said Kennedy sustained a small entry wound to the back of his head, although he admitted not observing it firsthand. However, all information regarding the single-bullet theory has been made public, he said.

In addition, he said forensic tests have shown that the bullet that struck Connally was the same one that struck Kennedy.

And while other investigations have debunked parts of the Warren Commission report, he said, no one has disproved the single-bullet theory.

Furthermore, Specter said Kennedy's brother, Robert, who was attorney general at the time, either would have had to have known of the "conspiracy" or been "at least indifferent" to it. Such a large conspiracy, he said, would have been revealed by now.

Asked about films showing people running to the grassy knoll in downtown Dallas at the time of the shooting -- not toward the Texas School Book Depository building, where Oswald was -- Specter responded, "It is never possible to prove a negative conclusively."

The other topic that put Specter into the limelight in recent months -- his grilling of Anita Hill during the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas --also came up.

Specter, a Republican, once again denied that his questioning indicated a sexist attitude, and said he tried to be as low-key, courteous and professional as he could be. He also referred to statements in The New York Times and National Public Radio that characterized his questioning as "professional" and "appropriate."

Specter acknowledged that the Hill-Thomas situation "touched a raw nerve in America" and said he was chosen to question Hill because he has a "very strong record on women's issues."

He also addressed questions about the economy, education, the Arab-Israel conflict, the so-called "peace dividend," health care and other issues. Among the highlights:

*He leaned in favor of bringing American troops home from Europe and Korea "unless some very powerful reasons are put forward." Specter has not made up his mind on the issue yet, however.

*He supports national health insurance, but did not say what form it should take or how it should be financed.

*The United States should do away with a missile-modernization program in favor of Star Wars, or the Strategic Defense Initiative, since the Warsaw Pact no longer is a threat to Europe. However, anti-missile technology is needed to guard against nuclear attacks from one of the former Soviet states or by a dictator like Saddam Hussein.

*The country needs a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution to combat the federal deficit. Specter also said he believes the president already has the authority to exercise the line-item veto.

*American aid to Israel should not be conditioned on its withdrawal from the occupied territories. The dispute, he said, must be resolved by the Israelis and the Palestinians.

*Student grants or loans should be available to every student who wants to attend higher education, he said, without specifying how any additional aid would be paid for.